CLONING
The Road That Leads to the Present
CLONING HAS ALREADY HAPPENED. AT THE PRESENT TIME, WITH ADOLFO CAMBIASO AS
FOREFATHER AND AHEAD OF HIS TIME, A GREAT MANY PLAYERS AND BREEDERS ARE
BEGINNING THEIR CLONING PROCESSES WITH SOME OF THEIR BEST PONIES.
Even though Cambiaso was not the first to clone
polo ponies, it is he who began playing clones
during the high-goal season in Argentina. A
glance at his list of horses at the Jockey Club
Open showed five Dolfina Lapa clones, and it was
anticipated that throughout the Triple Crown sev-
eral Dolfina Lapa and Dolfina Cuartetera clones
would appear on the field.
During the Jockey Club and Triple Crown tourna-
ments, results were plain to see, which shows
that clones, as well as being very similar physi-
cally to their founders, also achieved outstanding
performances, as we saw by the nominations and
awards obtained. Dolfina Cuartetera 01 and 06,
in their Triple Crown debut, were nominated by
the Argentine Association of Polo Pony Breed-
ers as the best mares in the match between La
Dolfina and El Paraíso. And days later—after the
final—that same 06 Clone received a prize both
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from the AACCP and as Best Playing Pony of the
tournament final.
At that time, Adolfo Cambiaso, amidst celebra-
tions for having obtained the title, remarked: “And
the 06 Clone won both prizes. There is no doubt
that it was all that was needed to crown a won-
derful afternoon”.
Cloning began in 2007 in the United States, with
Charlie Armstrong, who decided to clone his
mare Sage, thus obtaining the first polo clones
Show Me and Shawnee. In Argentina, the first to
make the attempt was Gonzalo Pieres, with the
mares Luna and Chusma, but this did not turn
out as expected. After that, Mariano Aguerre
cloned Califa, and Adolfo Cambiaso did likewise
with the aforementioned Dolfina Lapa and Dolfina
Cuartetera, as well as Small Pearson, Colibrí and
Aiken Cura. All of these were cloned in the United
States.